In computing, firmware is software that is embedded in a hardware device. It is often provided on flash ROMs or as a binary image file that can be downloaded into existing hardware. In some systems, a host computer transfers the firmware to the hardware device. This transfer of the firmware is handled by a device driver.
For example, firmware downloading from a host system to a device driver in a wireless area local network (WLAN) card is required in some systems. Downloading the firmware file to the card typically requires the driver to access the firmware file. Due to a license or other restriction typically associated with the firmware, however, the firmware file either cannot be installed in the driver, or cannot be accessed by the driver directly from kernel space. For example, the file has to be released under a GPL (General Public License), which is undesirable. In this case, a special application or other method is needed to download the firmware file from user space (file system) of the host system to the device driver in kernel space if the kernel does not support firmware downloading. However, it is typically not desirable to provide a WLAN card with an application that is capable of accessing files from kernel space. Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide an improved method and system for downloading firmware from a host system to a hardware device.